Muslims Demand Germany "Make Islam Equal to Christianity"

Muslims attending the German Islam Conference were apparently offended by the insinuation that Islam could be radical or violent.

A major conference on German-Muslim relations has ended in failure after Muslims attending the event refused to acknowledge the government's concerns about the threats to security posed by radical Islam.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich had wanted the eighth annual German Islam Conference, held in Berlin on May 7, to focus on finding ways the government could work together with "moderate" Muslims in Germany to combat Islamism and extremism.

But Muslims attending the gathering were apparently offended by the insinuation that Islam could be radical or violent, and demanded instead that the German government take steps to make "Islam equal to Christianity" in Germany.

The German Islam Conference was launched by former Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble in 2006, and has been billed as the "central forum for dialogue" between German politicians and representatives of the estimated 4.3 million Muslims now living in Germany.

The stated aim of the annual event -- where Muslim organizations and individuals are invited to sit at the table with representatives from federal, state and local government -- is to promote Muslim integration into German society.

This year's event was focused around three main themes: institutional cooperation between Muslims and the German state; gender equality as a common value, and prevention of extremism, radicalization and social polarization.

Muslims attending the conference evidently wanted to focus only on the first theme, which included "promoting the introduction of comprehensive Islamic religious instruction in public schools, including through conferences and publications." Although the government has already made many concessions in this regard, Muslims complained about German "interference" in selecting the teachers who provide Islam training in German schools.

In respect to the second theme -- gender equality -- the German government had hoped to find solutions to the problems of honor violence and forced marriage. But Muslims refused even to acknowledge any connection between Islam and forced marriage. Instead, they managed to turn the gender issue on its head by demanding that German employers promise not to discriminate against Muslim women who want to wear burkas to work.

The third theme -- the prevention of Islamic extremism and radicalization -- undoubtedly caused the most controversy at this year's conference.

Interior Minister Friedrich had been hoping to enlist the support and cooperation of Muslims at the conference to help in the fight against the radicalization of young Muslims in Germany.

Since taking office in 2011, Friedrich has led Germany's multifaceted response (here, here and here) to the rise of radical Islam there. Friedrich and other German security officials are increasingly concerned about the threat posed by home-grown terrorists inspired by Islamic extremists, who openly state that they want to establish Islamic Sharia law in Germany and across Europe. (A recent poll found that more than half of all Germans view Islam as a threat to their country and believe it does not belong in the Western world.)

But Muslims were perceptibly furious when Friedrich refused to give in to their demands to drop discussion of security-related aspects of Islam at this year's conference.

The director of inter-religious dialogue at the Turkish-Islamic Union for Islamic Affairs [Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion (DITIB)], Bekir Alboga, complained that Friedrich had rendered the conference "pointless" by bringing "security policy themes too far to the fore." Alboga said the German Islam Conference "makes no more sense in its current form. I do not see any genuine partnership." He added that "we [Muslims] do not want to be seen as being a security factor."

In a speech he delivered at the conference, Alboga used logical gymnastics to blame Germany of promoting "extremism and radicalization" by not doing enough to stop "Islamophobia."

Later, in an interview with the German news agency Deutsche Welle, Alboga said he was hoping that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be defeated in federal elections in September 2013 so that the Muslim-German dialogue could continue in a more positive way with a new government led by the more Muslim-friendly Social Democrats. "I yearn for a real partnership," he said.

It should be noted that Alboga's DITIB is a branch of the Turkish government, which controls over 900 mosques in Germany. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long used DITIB to dissuade Turkish immigrants from integrating into German society.

Alboga's complaints were echoed by the Secretary-General of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany [Zentralrats der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD)], Aiman Mazyek, who said the Islam conference "urgently needs a general overhaul" because it is not a "dialogue among equals."

The head of the Turkish Community in Germany [Türkische Gemeinde in Deutschland (TGD)], Kenan Kolat, called on the German government to create a new Integration Ministry that would take the responsibility for organizing the German Islam Conference away from the Interior Ministry.

The director of the Islamic Council of Germany [Islamrats für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (IR)], Ali Kizilkaya, described the German Islam Conference as "a train heading in the wrong direction" because the event is built on "security concerns and mistrust."

The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), eager to court disgruntled Muslim voters in a desperate bid to unseat Merkel this fall, has jumped on the anti-Friedrich bandwagon with enthusiasm.

The Interior Minister of Lower Saxony, the SPD's Boris Pistorius, accused Friedrich of fomenting "Islamophobia" by making "insensitive comments." Pistorius said the original goal of the German Islam Conference "was to talk about Islam" but Friedrich and his predecessor, Thomas de Maizière, changed the focus to "security and terrorism" and this shift has "alienated" Muslim participants. Pistorius said that after the federal elections, a victorious SPD would re-conceptualize the conference by "carefully separating the concepts of Islam and Islamism."

The parliamentary secretary of the SPD, Thomas Oppermann, accused Friedrich of leading the Islam Conference to an impasse, and said, "We want to put the dialogue with Muslims on a new basis." The Integration Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, SPD politician Guntram Schneider, hinted at what such a "reorientation of the conference" might entail when he complained that the event did not address "Islamophobia."

Potential SPD coalition partners also joined the electioneering. Left Party politician Christine Friedrich Buchholz accused Friedrich of not being really interested in a genuine dialogue with Muslims. Green Party leader Renate Künast said the conference needed a "reset" because Friedrich had "smashed too many dishes."

In any event, this is not the first time the German Islam Conference has ended in failure. The official focus of the conference in 2012 was to find ways to deal with the spiraling rates of forced marriages and domestic violence among Muslims in Germany.

But Muslim representatives attending that event were in no mood for compromise. Then, like now, they refused to accept responsibility for any of the innumerable irritants in German-Muslim relations. Instead, they insisted that the German government amend its "misguided" approach to Muslim integration.

The 2012 event ended without a joint press conference because of lingering Muslim pique at "offensive" comments that were allegedly uttered at the press conference that ended the 2011 event.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-basedGatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him onFacebook.

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15 Reader Comments

Linde Barrera • Oct 28, 2014 at 14:01

I am a Christian lady and totally believe that the German government should not give in to any of the Muslims' demands for "equality" or whatever rubbish they call it. Everyone was born with free will which means you believe what you choose. So no one should be coerced or forced to believe anything of a spiritual nature that they do not want to believe. Furthermore, Muslims really miss the point about the concept of a Redeemer God. Islam, like most other religions, have the idea of a merciful God, but a savior? That idea doesn't register with Muslims. What does "redemption" mean? According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, "Redemption is the recovery of something pawned or mortgaged; the payment of an obligation; the deliverance upon payment of a ransom; salvation from sin through Jesus' sacrifice." The idea of redemption goes beyond human logic. It can only originate from The One whose love moves the sun and the other stars. Thank you for taking my comment. lmbhb1993@gmail.com

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Judd • Jun 3, 2013 at 16:15

Why can't Germans marry and produce babies? Have the white men of Europe become impotent? They cannot produce babies? They cannot fight the invaders?

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Phillip Slepian • May 17, 2013 at 11:36

I find Kern's pieces fascinating glimpses into the machinery of what Andrew McCarthy has called "civilizational jihad:" the constant abuse of the host country's rights and political landscape to gradually and non-violently push the host country into Sharia compliance. The shrill cries of "Islamophobia" and "bigotry" are hurled at anyone who dares to expose the truth about Islam, to effectively silence them. Surely, this German example is a blueprint that we will see in many other Western nations in the decades to come. As Qaddafi once said, "Allah willing, Islam will be victorious in Europe without the need to fire a single shot." Qaddafi may have been a cruel dictator, but he had a fairly firm grasp of the obvious.

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Newspaniard • May 17, 2013 at 03:50

The true way to integration would be the way that all non-Islamics are treated: no special privileges for any one group, which means cancel all those concessions already made for Muslims. For all those Islamists who find living in Germany unsatisfactory, open a Department for Repatriation.

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Barry • May 16, 2013 at 21:00

Just close all the mosques and kick out the criminals. I mean, if a segment of society can't peacefully live with everybody else, get them the heck out of Germany and solve the problem. Crime will plummet.

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Heapologia • May 16, 2013 at 11:39

Before they could even hope to be put on an equal footing, Germany ought to demand that the Muslims excise the passages from the Quran that denigrate Christianity and Judaism on the grounds that they violate the German constitution. Then, they should insist that the largely Turkish Muslim minority publicly apologize on behalf of Turks everywhere for the Armenian genocide, renounce violence, and allow Islamic studies to be taught in schools by non-Muslims, in order to bring in a more objective viewpoint. Of course, if these measures are ever seriously enacted, Islam will die a natural death, as thousands upon thousands apostasize daily.

Death to Islam.

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Kate Brennan Heapologia • May 20, 2013 at 17:58

Mahomet isn't the prophet referenced in Deuteronomy 18:18-20; he is an Ishmaelite, not an Israelite. Sura 3:3 says that Quran must confirm the Bible, but it doesn't. Sura 2:106 states Allah doesn't change his word, except for when he does! Yahweh doesn't change Malachi 3:6 (so Israel will never be destroyed).

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Bob • May 15, 2013 at 20:55

It is time we just ban Islam and export all its members. They offer nothing, cost everything, and are just plain evil.

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Eib • May 15, 2013 at 20:06

Islam is profane. Mohammed is a false prophet. Muslim "immigrants" are often invaders. Those that are should be treated as such.

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Mohammad • May 15, 2013 at 17:56

"German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich had wanted... to focus on finding ways the government could work together with "moderate" Muslims in Germany to combat Islamism and extremism."

That was his first mistake. The only actual "moderate" Muslims, by our perspective of what moderate means, are apostates; in other words, the rest of their communitiy do not consider them to be Muslims. All of the practicing religious Muslims are the extremists. In this religion either you accept the supremacy of their prophet and follow all of his hateful edicts, or you are a heretic. There is no middle ground in their religion. When you look around you community and you see them in their religious garb, guess what: they are not moderate. When you read about them advocating for Sharia law, guess what: they are not moderate. When you see them going to the mosque, guess what: they are not moderate. The only ones who are "moderate" are the ones who abandoned their religion.

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Mark • May 15, 2013 at 12:07

Fine.... then they have no Sharia laws over secular laws. They follow all civil laws; no special treatment; no political correctness; no veils on ID cards; no polygamy; and no child brides. They get treated as any other resident of the country. No special treatment on the job. Nothing.

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Valhalla Mark • May 15, 2013 at 22:33

Islam can never be equal to Christianity, as it is opposite in many it's teachings: there is no repect for women, children, or animals; Sharia law is evil in it's application; Allah is a cruel tyrant; and the Christian God is one of love and forgiveness. Muslims has no intention of assimilating in any country they migrate to, as it has proclaimed jihad and intends to overtake and convert us all to Islam. Other religions reside and abide by the laws of the land; not Islam, which is a political, militant ideology intent on establishing its own culture and laws inside it's host country. It is spreading like a virus in all countries in the world, silencing freedom of speech and criticism of anything that is Islamic. It is aided and abetted by those who, for their own agenda, smooth the way for it's transition. Every concession granted is a win for Islam and Sharia, which we who believe in freedom and justice will fight to stop it's oppressive ideology from spreading.

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Jayson Rex • May 15, 2013 at 08:12

The only type of dialog that Muslims understand is... monologue. The Germans, just like the Brits, the French, and most other Europeans must accept that there will be no peace in the War of Civilizations as long as a single Muslim is left standing anywhere in Europe, and that any gesture a non-Muslim makes is usually considered offensive by the believers in Muhammad, the so-called prophet of Allah. As far as Muslims integration into the German society, this is a fairy tale that no one really buys - not the Germans or the Islamists. But it sounds so politically correct!

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Rick Dilts Jayson Rex • May 15, 2013 at 17:30

What I see here is the Islamic Sharia Law trying to be forced onto the government; and those political parties, plying for votes in the next election, are massaging their comments to persuade and convince those from the Islamic community to support them. If these political parties get elected, then a major shift toward Islamic rule will be instituted. Nonsense! When does a religious organization tell politicians what to do? Where, how, and why? People may have political aspirations about what they believe, but I say religion and politics don't mix (at least they shouldn't). The present German government has my support. Thanks for standing up for democracy and freedom. Bullies are not welcome in any government, period...

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Berq Jayson Rex • May 16, 2013 at 19:38

Muslims are supremacists who think they have divine right to rule over kafirs. Muslims immigrants have taken a great step by coming to Germany or elsewhere in the West in search of self-betterment. Why is the West spending millions of taxpayers' money for the security of the public to protect them from Islamist terrorism? Europe has given them equal human rights, but they are not satisfied and demand greater privileges than those of their newfound country's native inhabitants. It's the fault of Western Muslim appeasement politicians. In the near future, if and when Muslims become a great number, the civil disturbances will start. Then the local people will pay the price of their politicians' fault.